Middle-class students attending former polytechnics are seeking to preserve
their status by captaining sports clubs, running social events and securing
internships, according to research.

Undergraduates from affluent backgrounds are more likely to throw themselves into extra-curricular activities to get ahead and “maintain their middle-class position”, it was claimed.

Academics said that these students were likely to feel “out of place” at modern universities after missing out on elite institutions.

The study found that many students sought to “overcompensate” – captaining hockey and rugby teams or running student union events – to make sure they maximised their time at university.

They were also more likely than students from working-class families to burnish their CVs with internships to boost their chances of securing a good job after graduation, according to Times Higher Education magazine.

The conclusions were made in an analysis of 90 students – 45 from Bristol University, which is a member of the elite Russell Group, and 45 from the University of the West of England, the old Bristol Polytechnic which was given full university status in 1992.

Nicola Ingram, a research associate at Bath University, who co-authored the study, presented the findings at the British Sociological Association annual conference.

She said: “Those with high levels of cultural capital felt very out of place [at UWE].

“Some felt UWE was right for them, but others were ‘fish out of water’. Some were fighting to maintain their middle-class position.”

One student quoted in the report said that studying at a more modern university was “academically… a big torment”, claiming he evaded questions about his alma mater by saying he “went to university in Bristol”.

Dr Ingram said the study showed how middle-class students “knew how to play the game better” after graduation to secure a good job.

Comparing students from different social backgrounds, she said: “Both had the same aspirations, but the working-class student did not have any social contacts, while the middle-class student used his family and is starting a £40,000 job in a few weeks.”